Overhead track-joint and supporting means therefor.



H. L. FERRIS OVERHEAD TRACK JOINT AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1915.

RR R 1 Q fi M Q Q Mm ,%l n, 5%

H. L. FERHIS OVERHEAD TRACK JOINT AND SQPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, I915.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1915. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

M m m T Q HMHHHHHHHMH T W1 I i IT 1 fi r 1 i x 9 m A H. L. FERRIS' OVERHEAD TRACK .lOiNT .AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. I915- Patented Oct. 12

IIIIIII/ IIIIII/Al Jaw/i6;

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CD-YWASHINGTON. n. c

. generally be rigid track, either arr/amn s PAEENT oEEreE.

HENRY L. FERRIS, or HARVARD, ILLINOIS, nssrenon To Hear, HELIVI, FERRIS &

COMPANY, 01? HARVARD, ILLINOIS, s. CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

OVERHEAD TRACK-JOINT'AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR.

j Specification of Letters Patent.

1 atented Oct. I12, 1915.

Application filed February 19, 1915. Serial 110.9384.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, HENRY L. F Rius, a citizen of the United, Statesresiding at Harvard, in the. county of McHenry and; State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Overhead T rack- Joints and Supporting Means Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in over-head track, and more particularly to a means for joining different kinds of track.

More immediately the invention is con cerned with that type of overhead track which is used for litter carriers, feedcarriers and the like in barns, andto the means used for joining such track to the out-door" track extensions.

The invention further relates to a preferred means for supporting and guying the joint between such indoor and outdoor tracks.

The indoor track commonly made use of for such service'as I have mentioned will of elongated C-section, tubular, I-section, or some rolled or drawn shape, and provided at intervals with rigid supports which will commonly be attached to the roof-beams of the structure. The outdoor track commonly used in connection with such indoor track for the purpose of permitting the litter carriers,- or the like, to be transported to a suitable dump outside of the building is usually of so-called flexible construction, and may either be of rolled or drawn rod or wire, or of steel cable, supported only at. the ends. The indoor and .outdoortrack commonly meet at the doorapertures of the building, and it is the specific object of my invention to provide a structure adapted for mounting at the door aperture and forming an ,alining joint between the rigid and the flexible track and a supporting and guying, means for. the end of the flexible track.

More particularly it is the object of my invention to provide such a joint, which will be simple and durable in construction and capable of maintaining the two tracks in perfect alinement...

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appearmore fully from the following detailed description of several different embodiments of the invention.

. These various embodimentso'f theinven tion are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: n

Figure 1 is a side levation of a combined track support and joint, constructed in 'accordancewith the invention, the door beam to which the structure is attached andthe adjacent wall of the building being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 of Fig. 1'; Fig. 3is a section on the line 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a formof track joint constructed in accordance with my invention and adapted for use with an I-section track; Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the track joint and support shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an elevation of another form oi -track joint embodying my invention and adapted for use with tubular track; Fig. 7 is an enlarged longi tudinal section of the structure shown in Fig. 6; Fig- 8, is a schematic sectional view of a barn structure showing another form of track joint and one manner in which the rigid track may be guyed when this joint is used; Fig. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the track oint shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an enlarged elevation of the end rail in Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11 of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a section on theline 12 of Fig. 10, and Fig. 13 is a section on the line 13 of Fig. 10.

, Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 7 of the drawings: 10 designates a horizontal beam such as is employed as the top member of a door-frame, and 11 designates the wall of the building. Bolted to the beam 10, as by the bolts 12, is an angular bracket or hanger 13, rectangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, and inclining inwardly from the door beam 10 to which it is secured. At its lower end the bracket or hanger 13 had formed thereon a hood leiv which serves to secure the supporting guy 15, which may be fastened to a beam or other support. support and joint shownin Figs. 1 vto comprises a. casting designated as a whole by the numeral 16, and consistingof a T-' shaped section 17 having one rounded end 18, one taperingend 18, and aweb 19 which carries a securing flange 20 adapted The combined track to be bolted, as by thebolts 21, to the faceof i order to secure the bent portion of the flexible track 23 in position about the T-head 17,

I employ the ,C-section element shown in Fig. 2 and designated 24. As illustrated by the drawing, this. elongated C-section completely surrounds the T-head'and the length of flexible trackbent therearound, and embraces the web 19 which joins the 'T-head to the s 1 porting flange 20. The tapering end 18 of the T'-head which points outwardly beneath the extending 23 serves to more effectively guard against bending of the track under load. tension 18 may well be omitted, however, in most cases, To securethe C-section 24 in position I mayemploy a bolt 25, which passes through a bore within a central enlarged portion 26 of the web 19 (see Fig. 3') and has its headbearing upon the C-section and itsnut bearingupon the hanger 13, so that in addition to securing the C-section piece in place this bolt acts as an additional support for the member 16 through its con nection to the hanger 13. In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 this C-section element 24:, which embraces the T-head l7 and secures the flexible track 23 thereto, is'in fact nothing more than the outer end of the rigid" track 27 which extends within the barn. WVhen the parts are assembled, as shown in Fig. 1, the rigid track is, therefore, continuous up to a point 28 which is just beyond the outer end of the track support 16, and at this point the flexible track 23 issues from the interior ofthe rigid track 27 and passes outwardly lnalinement therewith and substantially flush with the uppersurface thereof; The track support 16 therefore f manner possible.

' ment with one another and to 7 tinuous upper surface upon 5 the rigidtrack 27 serves as a means for securing the meeting ends of the flexible and rigid tracks in alinewhich the trolley may run, and when inassembled position the'parts are-locked in position by their en gagement with one another in the simplest shown in Figs. 4 and is a rolled I-section, the web of which is perforated as shown at 29. Inapplying my device to thisform of rigid In the construction track, the C-sectionf piece 24 will be provided'with two extensions 30 of appropriate 7 cross-section to liewithin the channels of the -I-section track and bear against the op portion of the track This exprovide a con-' posite faces of the web thereof, the two ex- 7 tensions 30 being held against the I-section by a through-bolt 31 passing through alinmg apertures in these extensions 7 and through one of the apertures 29 in the web of the track-member. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the rigid track terminates at a point 32 and the upper edge of the C-section piece 2% carries the trolley to the point 28, at which the flexible track emerges from the joint.

In the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7, a rigid track 27 of tubular section is employed. For combination {with such a rigid track I provide the C-section piece 24C of the joint with a nipple, or cylindrical boss, 34-, projecting outwardly: from one end and adapted to lie within the bore of the tubular track 27 and to be secured thereto, as by a pin 35. In this form of the invention also, the rigid and flexible tracks are secured and supported in alinement with each other by the T-head '17. In this construction the rigid track terminates at a point-36 at the inner endof the C-section 24 and the latter piece serves as a track member to carry the trolley to the point 28, at

which joint. In all three of the constructions illustrated in the drawings and described above the rigid and the flexible tracks are joined the flexible track emerges from the and held in alinement with one another by a single unitary device carried by the rigid track and adapted to be supported by any common form of bracket or hanger, and in the preferred construction of this latter element a guyhook is provided by which the traclrmay be guyed to resist the outward pull transmitted by the flexible track when the load is carried by the same. In the form of track support shown'in Figs. 4- to 7 the tapered extension 18 has been omitted.

In Figs. 8 to 13 I have illustrated one method of employing ,my improved trackjointwithout the use of any hangcr or support directly connected therewith. In this embodiment of my invention a rigid track 27 of the preferredC-section is shown as supported at intervals by hangers 37 adapted to be bolted or otherwise secured to the beams 38 of the barn structure, and for connecting the hangers 37 to the track I may provide detachable foot-pieces 39 bolted to the slotted ends of the hangers as at 40.

For'suppo'rting the C-section track shown thesefoot-pieces will-preferably have T- heads 41. 'It will be understood that if tubular or I-section, or track of other form, be used, the foot-pieces or track-supporting ends of the hangers will be formed to secure such track. I V

For connecting the rigid track 27 with the flexible track 23 in this embodiment ofthe appropriately invention, theconstruction employed may member may be omitted.

be substantially the same asthat made use of in Figs. 1 to 7, excepting only that since the hanger 18 is not used, the spacing web 19 and securing flange 20 of the track-joint Specifically. I prefer to make use of a filler-block 17 which lies within. the end of the til-section track 27 and issecured thereto as by a pair of bolts 25. This filler-block may have an internal rounded end 18 and an externally projecting wedge-shaped end 18, similar in all respects to the T-head piece 17 which forms the flller-block in the otherembodiments of my invention. In addition I may form in the lower edge of the block 17 a notch or recess 12 which may receive an inturncd end 13 of the flexible traclomember 23, for the purpose of better securing the latter. The railelengths which make up the V rigid track27 may be joined by plates M which lie within the ends of the rails and are connected therewith by bolts l5, and for the purpose of securing this. track against the longitudinal strains imparted to it by the flexible track-member 23 when the latter is under load, I may 'PIOVICIB a guy or tie rod 46 fastened to the inner endof the rigid track and to the barn structure, In

this embodiment of my invention as shown in Figs. 8 to 13 thereforthe flexible track and the rigid track are joined in such a manner as to lie in alinement and with their upper surfaces substantially flush with one another, while'the track jointis supported from the rigid track, and the pull offthe flexible track is transmitted through the joint to the rigid track and by the latter transferred to the building structure. l/Vitlr out substantially altering the construction of my track-j oint therefore I am able to dispense with the joint-supporting bracket or hanger 13 shown in Figs. 1 to 7 andito support and guy the flexible track through the rigid track itself. In connection with this form of my invention alsoit will be understood that any preferred form of rigid track may be used. Thus if the rigid track be of the tubular form or of the I-section form, as shown in Figs. 6-7 and i 5, respectively, a joint member of appropriate form as shown in these figures will be secured to the end of the track and the flexible track then secured within the joint member.

lVhile I have shown and described in con siderable detail three specific embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not regard my invention as limited to the details of construction shown and described, nor to any of them, except in so far as I have included such limitations within the terms of the following claims, in which it is my intention to claim all the novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as the prior art will permit.

hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a

rigid track, aflexible track, and a joint member securing the end of said flexible track to the end of said rigid track in the vertical plane of and with its upper surface substantially flush with the upper surface of said rigid track.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a rigid track, a joint member carried by the end of said rigid track and in the vertical plane of and substantially flush with the upper surface thereof, and a flexible track having its end secured-to said joint member and extending outwardly therefrom in alinement with and substantially flush with the upper surface thereof, whereby the rigid track, joint member and flexible track lie in a single straightline.

3.. In apparatus of the class described, a rigid track, a hollow-joint member carried by the end of-said rigid track, and a flexible track-member having one end secured in the vertical plane of and within the said hollow-joint member and extending outwardly therefrom in alinement with the said rigid track. j

I 4:. In apparatus of the class described, a rigid track, a hollow-joint member carried by the end of said rigid track, a flexible track having its end extending within the said hollow-joint member andreturn-bent in a vertical plane therein, and means for se curing the bent end of the flexible track Lnember within the said hollow-joint mem- 5. In apparatus of the class described, a rigid track, a hollow-joint member carried by the end of said rigid track, a filler-block lying within the said hollow-joint member,

and a flexible track having one end entering the oint member and bent to embrace the filler-block therein, the said flexible track extending outwardly from the joint member in alinement with the said rigid track.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a rigid track, a flexible, track, a joint for securing the end of said flexible track to the end of said rigid track and in a vertical plane therewith, and means for guying the rigid track against the tension of the said flexible track, I

7. In apparatus of the class described, a

hanger, a track-joint carried by said hanger, a flexible track secured to the said track joint in the vertical plane thereof and extending outwardly therefrom, and a rigid track secured to the said track joint and extending outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite. the said flexible track and having its upper surface in alinement with and substantially flush with the said flexible track.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a

- I hanger, a track joint carried by said hanger,

tion opposite thereto.

a flexible track extending outwardly from the upper surface of the said trackjoint andha'ving its extremity: bent downwardly d means for securing the sa d track-joint to in a vertical plane to embrace the same, and

a rigid track member carried by said track joint and extending-outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite said flexible track and having its upper surface in alinementand substantially flush with t e upper surface" of the flexibletraek; a

9. Inan apparatus of the class described, a hanger, means for securing a guy to the freeend' of said hanger, 'a track joint carried by the said hanger, aflexible track extending outwardly from the upper surface of said track joint and having its extremity bent to embrace the same, and a rlg'ld track having its upper surface in alinement with and substantially flush with the upper surface of the said flexible track and extending outwardly from the track joint in a direc- In apparatus of the class described, a hanger member,' 'a T'section track-joint carried by said-hanger member, a flexible I track member lying along and extending outwardly from the top surface of the T- head of said joint and bent to embrace one end and thelower side thereof, a C-section clamping member lying over the bent ex- I tremity of said flexible track member and 1 embracing'the said T-head, and a rigid track member supported by the said track-joint and in alinement with and flush with the uppersurface of the flexible track and; C section; W

11. In apparatus of the class described, a

v hanger member, a T-section track-joint car-, med by said hanger member, a flexible track lying along the upper surface of the T-head of said track-joint and extending outwardly 1 therefrom,

the said flexible track having its extremity bent to embrace one end of the lower side of said T-head, a @3-section clamp- I 1 ing memberlying over the bent extremityof said flexible track and embracing the said T-head, and a rigid track memberccarried by said C-section clamping member and eX- tending outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite to the said flexible track and having its upper surface in alinement with and Copies of this patentinay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the the upper surface and the lower surface of said lr-head,-a C-' section clamping member lying over the bentextremity of the flexible track and embracing-the T-head of the track-joint, and a rigid trackmember carried by the said track j ointandextending outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite the said flexible track and having its upper'surfacein alinement with and substantially flush with said flexi-.

ble track, 7 13. In apparatus of the class described, a hanger, a T-head traclrjoint carried by the said hanger, a flexible track lying along the upper surface of the, Thead of said joint and extending outwardly therefrom, the extremity of said flexible track being bent to embrace one end and the lower surface and said T-head, and a rigid track of C-section embracing the T-head and the bent extremity of the flexible track which lies thereove1",whereby the rigid and flexible tracks are 'supported in alinement and with their upper surfaces substantially flush. j 14In apparatus of the class described, a

hanger, a T-section track-joint carried by a side face of said hanger, a flexible track lying alongthe upper surface of the T-head of said track joint and extending outwardly a clamping member embracing therefrom, the said T-head and'lying over the flexible track, a securing bolt for said clamping member, the said securing bolt passing through the T-head and through the web'of tne track support and into thesaidhanger,

and a rigid trackmember carried by said track-joint and having its upper surface in the extremity of said V alinement {and substantially flush with the 7 upper surface of said flexible track.

g HENRY L. FERRIS,

In presence of CHAS. T. MUROT, J. R. SMAK.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. a 

